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NAB 2009 Prelim report


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The amount of steadicam knockoffs amazes you. some are interesting most are just horrific. The french one that uses rubber bands looks like it was built in a high school sheet metal class, that or the AC duct guy has a side job.

:lol:

Pierre will love this one !!!

 

No, Régis, I really don't care. We find the same funny guys' same funny jokes on internet forums, after each show and once in a while. They just have to hate what you're doing, for whatever shameless reason. "I hate the blue parts", "I hate the inflatable lumbar cushion's pump", "I hate sheet metal construction" (this is precisely what makes the good prices!)... "I hate their booth's carpet", "I hated the weather outside, as I passed by the booth", etc.

Any technical reproach? No. The RED camera is as detestable : "it looks like a steam locomotive and doesn't resemble a Sony or Panasonic camera"! But is this what matters? It works, does it quite well, and offers some unique features.

We're here to offer a serious, technically flawless, attractively priced alternative and the service for it. I don't think that's bad.

 

Fortunately, we also had the visit of many interesting and lovely people, with a tremendous knowledge of each and every slightest detail and smallest aspect of stabilizing systems, who took time to try and to "expertise" our stabilizers and discuss about what's great and what could be even better. One of them is right here above. Maybe he'll write a few words.

 

If you have any question, I'll be glad to help.

 

Pierre

L'AIGLE - THE EAGLE

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Hi Pierre

 

Do you have a web site? I did a search but can only find a guy with L'Aigle rig doing some of the excercises shown in EFP-DVD. Is it back mounted? From the video it looks like the vest is moving a lot around op's body, was fitted wrong or is like that? Just curious...

 

Thanks

Matteo

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Hi Pierre

 

Do you have a web site? I did a search but can only find a guy with L'Aigle rig doing some of the excercises shown in EFP-DVD. Is it back mounted? From the video it looks like the vest is moving a lot around op's body, was fitted wrong or is like that? Just curious...

 

Thanks

Matteo

 

 

Hi Matteo,

 

Here is our website :

www.laigleparis.fr

 

The backmounted vest, when properly adjusted to the operator's body, is absolutely joined to it. The large paded aluminium belt, attached under the navel with two rigid lever buckles, takes care for that.

 

Pierre

L'AIGLE - THE EAGLE

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Pierre, I was happy to try out your rigs as I did nearly everything stabilizer-related at the show, as I was writing an roundup review that is now up at DVInfo.net.

 

The look of the L'Aigle rigs is obviously something that will not appeal to everyone but I have long held the belief, and I think that it is generally agreed upon, that the really critical parts of a stabilizer are the performance of the arm and gimbal, and beyond that it comes down to structural integrity of the rest of the sled (so that it doesn't shift or flex during operation) and ease and range of adjustment of the components. The latex bands in the arm are obviously a radical departure from what we are used to and of course I was skeptical until I tried it. To my surprise, the action was very smooth and remarkably linear. I walked slowly alongside a wall poster keeping an eye out for a vertical bounce/pogo effect, and there was none. I then zoomed in to the long end of the broadcast lens and again did some slow walking, and the image was solid. Outside of the Tiffen isoelastic arms, this sort of performance is hard to find in a downscaled or lower cost rig. On the flip side, Pierre (a very cordial gent by the way) explained to me that to adjust the lift of the arm, you have to add or remove bands. This of course will be a much slower and more cumbersome process than what we are used to, which is an unfortunate downside to this design. My thought was that if one tends to use the stabilizer with their own camera exclusively and it is generally configured the same, this may not be as much of a deal-breaker as it seems. One has to remember that those who are looking to buy stabilizers under $10K are generally willing to make many compromises, and it's probably better to prioritize performance over ease of adjustability.

 

That said, the L'aigle line (pardon Pierre, I guess it should be "L'aigle line" or "the Aigle line"...!) does have a top stage similar to the Glidecams that involves a lot of loosening and tightening of numerous knobs, and I'd love to see these designs go away. Unlike the arm, where once the rig is built you are generally set for the day (again, think lower budget shoots where you are less likely to have filters flying in and out, fill lights spontaneously mounted etc), the top stage is something that we all adjust on a shot by shot if not take by take basis and I find the concept of attacking all of these knobs eminently frustrating.

 

The gimbal seemed pretty good, I didn't detect any linearity issues and it spun pretty nicely. Overall I have to say that the gimbals on lower-priced rigs have come a long way in the past few years.

 

In terms of overall design, I do think that there is an interesting attempt by L'Aigle to think outside the box. The form-over-function industrial design will possibly turn off more people than it attracts (and as Pierre points out, the RED suffers from the same fate--how much better for us would that camera be if it had a flat top with tapped holes?) but I feel that based on the short time I played with it at the show, it does appear to be a capable rig that can produce good looking shots at an attractive price point. I actually think their higher end rig offers the greater value as it is relatively that much less expensive for its stated payload, i.e. it is about a 1/3 the price of the Archer 2, whereas their smallest rig is only marginally cheaper than a Pilot--I may be a little off on the exact figures, don't quote me but hopefully you get the idea.

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Marshall was also showing an OLED 7.4" unit in their booth. OLED is certainly pretty to look at and no viewing angle issues, what a revelation in a flat screen. I'm just curious about the longevity of the panel as that is one of the issues with the technology. But it is my understanding that it is quite easy to backlight, so we should be seeing some smashing looking daylight-viewable versions soon.

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But it is my understanding that it is quite easy to backlight

 

 

You can't backlight them. Unlike LCDs, which require backlighting, OLED displays are "emissive" devices, meaning they emit light rather than modulate transmitted or reflected light, Therefore there can be no backlights added to make the display brighter.

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